Venus Williams.

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Endeavour Magazine | 7 Venus Wiiams KEEPING THE EYE ON THE BALL BY DONNIE RUST

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Keeping The Eye On The Ball

Transcript of Venus Williams.

Page 1: Venus Williams.

Endeavour Magazine | 7

Venus WilliamsKEEPING THE EYE ON THE BALLBY DONNIE RUST

Page 2: Venus Williams.

Professional athlete and entrepreneur secondly and a big

sister first, Venus Williams has created a legend around

herself for being something unique not only in the sporting

world but as an iconic heroine. Born in June 1980, Venus Ebony Starr

Williams is arguably one of the most famous sportspeople: A world

class, professional tennis player who has been ranked Number One

in the world on three separate occasions, the first time on February

25, 2002 when she also became the first African-American woman to

achieve it during the Open Era. We’ve waited a long time to feature

Venus Williams.

Credited with changing the women’s game and ushering a new,

modern era of power and athleticism on the women’s professional

tennis tour and for her dedication to promoting and influencing

equality for the genders in the sport.

Known as a dominating player with a preference with playing

on grass, Venus Williams has played a part in shaping the way we

view tennis today, by bringing on a strong sense of beauty, technical

brilliance and talent to the game. Often sharing the limelight with her

sister Serena there are very few people who have accomplished as

much on the court as these two sisters.

Growing up in Southern CaliforniaIt is safe to say that Venus would have succeeded in whatever

arena she chose. If she had grown up in South Africa she may have

pioneered women’s rugby or brought about the revolution in volley

ball three decades early however it was tennis that took her hand

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and it didn’t take long for her

coach Rich Macci from the

Macci Academy to notice the

talents of the two sisters. At

the age of 11 Venus had a 63-0

win factor in the United States

Tennis Associations in the junior

division!

Ranked at No 1 at the age of

11, her father pulled both her

and her sister Serena out of the

Macci Academy and took control

of the coaching from their home.

This has been said that part of it came from the racial problems with

the other kids, which according to Venus, was not a prevalent point in

her childhood:

“I guess some kids around me had to grow up quickly, had all those

problems. But I wasn’t one of those kids, or around those kids, not at

all,” she’s said, “I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals

and I try to ignore the rest.”

In tennisTennis is a fast paced game that takes a lot of tactical technique as

well as stamina and Venus, who has been a professional player since

the age of 14, has always been a strong all-rounder and powerful

baseliner, equipped with an attacking all-court game that does not

offer many opportunities to

opponents.

“I’m better adapted to

grass,” she says, “It’s where I

am comfortable. I’ve got a long

wingspan and had to develop into

a volleyer.” Additionally, Venus

has a notable agility around the

net, great court coverage and

with her long reach the ability to

play balls that most opponents

would not be able to reach,

hammering outright winners

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“If I didn’t play tennis I don’t know where I’d be.”

devastating weapon and while clay is Venus’ weakest surface and has

caused numerous injuries she has still succeeded in winning many

titles.

“My goal is always the same: to keep the other player from ever

scoring a point,” she says in explaining the basics of her game play,

“That doesn’t always happen, but that’s what I try for.”

Venus Williams, tennis player, entrepreneur and big sister

Unlike many celebrity sportspeople who get caught up in the

storm of being a celebrity, Venus’ main focus is to be a positive force.

A relentless work ethic that her father ingrained within her and her

from a defensive position. The

strength of all this is reflected in

the five Wimbledon singles titles

won in eight of the last ten years.

The record holder for the

fastest female serve clocked at

a racket shattering 130 mph

(209.2 km/h) Venus also holds

the record for fastest serve in

three of the four Grand Slam

tournaments. Known for being

an explosive hitter of the ball

from the ground her backhand

has proven to be the most reliably

consistent for groundstrokes

which is effecting down-the-

line or crosscourt. Even her

forehand, which has a tendency

to break down under pressure,

still yields many winners from

a variety of court positions. In

fact, even though the weakest

of her arsenal it is one of the

most powerful forehands in

the woman’s game, frequently

struck in the region of 85-90

mph (140km/h). Interestingly

enough, the only other women

who are known to have such a

powerful strike are Ivanovic,

Justine Henin and her own sister

Serena Williams.

Grass also produces low

bonces that tend to turn

her serve into an even more

sister from birth has created a

kind of mental focus that keeps

her working to constantly better

herself.

“The day I’m not improving

will be the day I hang up the

racket.”

The product of a family ethos

of striving to improve, Venus was

accustomed to practicing for four

to five hours a day to develop

their physical discipline and have

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in-depth conversations with

the family around the table on

subjects such as economics and

social Darwinism. Her mother

inspired within them a curious

nature and most importantly a

resolute sense of self-worth and

an entrepreneurial attitude.

This attitude was brought

to providence when in the early

2000s, while at the top of her

game she took the initiative and

enrolled in an interior design

programme and became a

Certified Interior Decorator, this

led to the creation of V*Starr

Interiors 2002 which capitalized

on a long love affair she had with

interior designing.

Soon after she followed this

move by obtaining an associated

degree in fashion design which

led to the launch of EleVen, which

for her was the opportunity

to fill a niche in tennis gear for

something that was not only

accessible and comfortable, but

fashionable as well. Recently

she’s also enrolled in an online

programme at the University of

Indiana East to pursue a business

degree.

“I’m this overachiever type,

I’ll just work and work and I’ll

just do it over and over and over

again.”

IN 2010 she became a New

York Times bestseller with her

book “Come To Win: Business

Leaders, Artists, Doctors, and

Other Visionaries on How

Sports Can Help You Top Your

Profession” by Williams and co-

author Kelly E. Carter, published

by HarperCollins.

“In the book, I’ve interviewed

such luminaries as Sir Richard

Branson, Condoleezza Rice,

and Vera Wang about how their

early experiences as competitive

athletes and how it helped forge

their successful careers.” Venus

Williams.

One of her own heroes

was tennis pioneer Billie Jean

King who had a reputation

for being very vocal on the

topic of inequities between

pay rates for male and female

players. After a failed attempt

in 2005 to change the minds

of the Wimbledon Officials,

Venus wrote an essay that was

published in the New York Times

on the eve of Wimbledon 2006

putting a spotlight on the double

standard. It had such a significant

impact that in 2007 Wimbledon

announced parity in the prize

money for its male and female

champions.

The fight for gender equality

didn’t stop there, in 2009 Venus and her sister, Serena Williams, also a

tennis champion, announced they had become limited partners in the

NFLs Miami Dolphins and became the first African-American women

to obtain ownership of an NFL franchise.

It isn’t often that you find a pair of sisters so evenly matched in a

game, who have played each other in major tournaments on a number

of times and Venus and Serena have made records as they have, for

the most part, remained parallel all the way up the tables. Yet, while

competitive on the court it has not affected the relationship between

them.

As Venus has been quoted on many occasions, “My first job is big

sister and I take that very seriously.”

The fall, Sjögren’s syndromeThe rise, tennis hero

It was well documented that for some time before the summer

of 2011, Venus was suffering from a mixture of symptoms including

fatigue, muscle aches, breath shortness and the inability to recover

during a set. While doctors were convinced it was a case of adult-

onset asthma nothing they prescribed brought any relief and it was

discovered that it was actually Sjögren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune

disease in which immune cells attack saliva and tear glands.

However, like anything Venus has attacked this with her usual

aggressive focus and has become an advocate for a vegan/raw

food diet which helps minimize the inflammation brought on by the

condition. No more cherry pies, as sugar is strictly verboten and her

training is now tempered with one or more rest days per week.

Her return to tennis was enivitable and recently she has once

again stood her ground in a Wimbeldon Grand Slam, surprising

everyone with the strength of her comeback.

“If I didn’t play tennis I don’t know where I’d be.”

will be the day I hang up the racket.THE DAY I’M NOT IMPROVING

“ ”